Six Weeks with a Lord by Eve Pendle

 

Meet the Author:

Eve lives in England and writes angsty, snarky and passionate Victorian era romance. She has National Trust membership, a big-boned cat, and a crazy dog. She loves wearing dresses and eating chocolate.

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About the Book:

 

Grace Alnott is out of time. To save her younger brother from an abusive guardian, her merchant father’s will demands she must marry a peer. Handsome but destitute Everett Hetherington, Earl of Westbury agrees to her offer of a marriage of convenience but stipulates she must live with him for six weeks. No matter how honorable he seems she can’t allow him to get too close, because the aristocracy cannot be trusted.
Six weeks. Major Everett Hetherington, new Earl of Westbury, has exactly six weeks to convince the very independent Grace Alnott to spend the rest of her life with him. Despite her belief she doesn’t belong in his world, he must tempt the alluring Grace into staying, because he has fallen for her. Hard. He just has to ensure she never discovers his secret.
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Tracy’s Review:

Six Weeks with a LordSix Weeks with a Lord by Eve Pendle
Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Grace Alnott returns from finishing school to learn that her father is dead and has left her nothing but her dowry, a dowry she will only get upon her marriage to a peer. Her father named Lord Rayner as guardian to her young brother and expects Grace to marry him.

Grace despises Lord Rayner, he is an awful man and she plans to petition the Chancery court for guardianship of her brother Henry. But to do that, she needs money. She makes it known that she is looking for a marriage of convenience and is willing to split her dowry with her new husband.

Everett Hetheringon, the Earl of Westbury needs a rich bride. His father and older brother both neglected the estate and left behind huge debts, when his younger brother tells him of Grace with her dowry of 50,000 pounds, it seems like the answer to his prayers. He offers for Grace and learns that he will only get half of the dowry and she doesn’t plan to live with him. They make a bargain – she will live with him for six weeks and he will not take his “husbandly rights” – he agrees but he is not completely honest with her – he plans to seduce her into staying and claiming her entire dowry to pay off his brother’s debt.

They marry and return to his estate, she doesn’t trust men and tries to keep Everett at arms length, she hasn’t told him what she plans to do with her half of the dowry instead she told him that she wants to be an independent woman and travel. But over the course of the first few weeks, they form a friendship and she tells him about her brother and Lord Rayner. He offers to help her with her problem, but still doesn’t disclose his plan to keep her entire dowry. He woos her with kindness and kisses.

Grace begins to fall in love with him and thinks that he may be a man she can trust with her heart, and after a visit from Lord Rayner, she is sure of it. She decides to wait until the six weeks is up to tell him of her feelings, but lets him consummate the marriage.

The morning after the six weeks is up, she is excited and in love, she wants to tell him and is just waiting for the perfect moment. But everything goes terribly wrong and Grace is heartbroken. Everett tries to explain and swears that his love for her is true, but he needs the money to pay the debt and thinks that is more important than getting guardianship of Henry. Grace decides to return to London and Everett doesn’t stop her. But a visit from his mother makes him realize what he has given up and what he has to do to win back Grace. But is it too late?

This was a well written book that moves along at a steady pace, with likable characters, steamy love scenes, a nasty villain, interesting secondary characters and a true chemistry between Grace and Everett. I really enjoyed the book and would happily recommend!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*

Bound to Her Blood Enemy by Tora Williams

Bound To Her Blood Enemy
Bound to Her Blood Enemy
Norman heiress, Matilda Comyn is desperate to escape her grasping guardian and reclaim her inheritance. After a lifetime of being let down by men, she wants to rule her lands on her own terms. She can’t escape without help and battles her mistrust when compelled to join forces with a Welsh spy.
Huw Ap Goronwy has a rival claim to Matilda’s castle and has sworn a blood oath against the Comyns. When his king rules they must marry, he struggles to reconcile his attraction with his need for revenge. But they must form a truce if they are to seize their castle.
Risking capture and death, they will only succeed if Matilda learns to trust, and Huw allows his love for Matilda to overcome his need for revenge.
Purchase Links
Amazon (UK)
Amazon (US)
The Wild Rose Press Catalogue

Author Bio –
Tora lives in Shropshire in the United Kingdom. On childhood holidays her interest in history was fired by exploring castles in Wales and the Welsh borders, and she would make up stories about characters living there. When she started writing, it seemed only natural to turn to the settings that inspired her as a child. In her free time, when she can drag herself away from reading, she enjoys walking and cycling.

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Tracy’s Review:

Bound to Her Blood EnemyBound to Her Blood Enemy by Tora Williams
Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Matilda Comyn is a Norman heiress who wants nothing more than to be in charge of her own fate and not dependent on a man. The men in life have all let her down, starting with her father and currently with her guardian, Sir Reginald Fitzjohn. Matilda knows that he has been syphoning funds from her inheritance, Coed Bedwen on the Welsh border and had made no effort to find her a husband. His wife is gravely ill and she knows once she dies, Fitzjohn intends to marry her and steal her inheritance! She has tried to escape, but Fitzjohn watches her like a hawk. But all that might change with the appearance of Huw ap Goronwy.

Huw has two goals in life, to reclaim Coed Bedwen and fullfil the blood oath against the Comyns who stole it from his family and killed his grandfather. Huw joined Owain, the king of Gwynedd when he was young and has been one of his best spies. He has been tasked with bringing Matilda to him. He hopes the reward will be Coed Bedwen and that he will finally get a chance to complete his oath. He is taken by Matilda from the first, she is nothing like he expected a Comyn to be and when he learns she is half Welsh, he questions if he will be able to harm her and keep his oath.

They easily escape her guardian and travel together to the king, but fear causes Matilda to act rashly and she attempts to drug Huw. Before he succumbs to the poppy she used to lace his wine, he grabs her and ties her up. The next day he is furious and regrets being kind to her, a Comyn – he should have known better. So when the king’s solution is for him to marry her – he is outraged and refuses. But when he learns it is the only way he will gain Coed Bedwen, he agrees.

Plans are made to retake the castle, which Matilda insists on being part of. They marry and leave to scout out the castle. As they spend time together, they form a truce and a friendship. He wonders how he will manage to keep the oath that has been his driving force for years. But he finally accepts that Matilda is not responsible for the sins of her grandfather. He wants a life with her and hopes she feels the same.

Matilda is falling for Huw, he may be the first man in her life to not let her down. But when the plan begins to fall apart and her life is in peril, Huw does what he must to save her and in doing so, crushes her heart.

Huw tries to convince her of his love, but Matilda refuses to let go of old hurts and may cost them both the love of a lifetime.

I thought this was a very good debut novel, the writing was good, but personally, I thought Matilda’s actions in the last 10% of the book seemed overly contrived and unnecessary. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but it was annoying enough to make it a 4 star read when it had been at least 4.5 up until that point. I found the story interesting, it had a fair bit of action, tepid-warm love scenes, wonderful secondary characters, a couple of twists and turns, as well as a couple of jaw dropping moments. Overall, I was happy with the book and would recommend it to medieval fans.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by the publisher*